As reported at the Arizona Daily Star, two border agents were convicted on Friday by a jury in Federal court in Tucson, AZ of violating the civil rights of four drug smugglers. Yes, you heard that correct. Let me repeat this, two border agents were convicted of violating the civil rights of four Mexican drug smugglers. WTF is going on in this country!!! Seriously, the US government fails to protect the borders from illegal immigrants and drug smugglers from entering into our country, but we prosecute the very agents who do? We are not allowed to call these people illegals, but we allow Mexican drug smugglers to have civil rights. Not only are they in the United States illegally, they are in it with illegal drugs with the intention of selling such illegal substances. But they got civil rights. Unreal.

25 year old Dario Castillo and 31 year old Ramon Zuniga were convicted on four counts of “civil-rights deprivation under color of law”. Here is a rather interesting part od the case and prosecution, even though there were more agents at the scene, only Zuniga and Castillo committed the civil-rights violations. Hmm? Does anyone else just find this all a bit whacked, seeing that we have a federal policy of not going after illegals and a push to not even call them illegals? So what would these folks have been considered … undocumented, not legal substance carrying, lost in the desert individuals?

After deliberating most of the morning, about 3 p.m. the jury convicted Dario Castillo, 25, and Ramon Zuniga, 31, of four counts of civil-rights deprivation under color of law. Rather than arrest four Mexican smugglers intercepted the night of Nov. 12, 2008, the agents made them strip off their socks, shoes and jackets, forced some of them to eat marijuana and ordered them to flee into the desert.

The convictions are misdemeanors for Zuniga, but felonies for Castillo because the jury found he set fire to the smugglers’ belongings.

The agents were found not guilty of a conspiracy charge.

Castillo was also found not guilty of tampering with a witness, the most serious charge.

A felony conviction for deprivation of rights under color of law carries a maximum penalty of 10 years and/or a $250,000 fine; a misdemeanor conviction under the statute carries a penalty of one year and/or a $100,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney for Arizona John Leonardo said in a written statement,”This verdict sends a clear message that abuse of authority by federal law enforcement officers will not be tolerated in our society.” Really, I take it in another way. No one believes in civil rights for Americans more than I; however, I in no way believe they should be afforded to people in my country illegally and committing crimes. Who finds this a bit offensive when we have a U.S. government, Republican, Democrat & Independent alike, who every day try to strip away out US Constitutional and Civil rights, yet Mexican drug smugglers are protected? Our government is trying to strip away our Second Amendment right to bare arms, yet these people have a right to be in our country illegally with illegal drugs and have civil rights. What has happened to the America I grew up in?

It is time for the citizens of Arizona to take the U.S. Attorney to the wood shed and run him out of town. This guy is no better than the evil one who put the two Border Patrol agents in jail from Texas.

The thought that illegal drug smugglers have any rights in this country is absurd. This more of Obama’s and Holder’s punishment via the federal courts for the citizens of Arizona.